2014–15 Belgian Pro League

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Jupiler Pro League
Season2014–15
ChampionsK.A.A. Gent
1st league title
RelegatedLierse
Cercle Brugge
Champions LeagueGent
Club Brugge
Europa LeagueAnderlecht
Standard Liège
Charleroi
Matches played296
Goals scored848 (2.86 per match)
Top goalscorerAleksandar Mitrović (20 goals)
Biggest home winCharleroi 6–0 Lierse (regular season)
K.R.C. Genk 7–1 Waasland-Beveren (UEL play-offs)
Biggest away winLierse 0–6 Club Brugge
Highest scoringStandard Liège 3–5 Oostende
Longest winning run5 games[1]
Kortrijk
Longest unbeaten run19 games[2]
Club Brugge
Longest winless run13 games[3]
LierseS.K.
Longest losing run10 games[4]
Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz

The 2014–15 season of the Belgian Pro League (known as the Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the 112th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2014 and finished in May 2015. K.A.A. Gent won the league, making it the first championship title in their 115-year history.[5]

Teams[edit]

Following the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League, R.A.E.C. Mons were relegated to the 2014–15 Belgian Second Division after losing their relegation playoff series against OH Leuven. Mons is replaced by 2013–14 Belgian Second Division champions K.V.C. Westerlo, who returned to the highest level after their relegation during the 2011–12 season.

Mouscron-Péruwelz replaces OH Leuven as they won the 2014 Belgian Second Division final round head of K.A.S. Eupen, Sint-TruidenV.V. and OH Leuven.

Stadia and locations[edit]

class=notpageimage|
Location of the 2014–15 Belgian Pro League teams
Club Location Venue Capacity
Anderlecht Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,000
Cercle Brugge Brugge Jan Breydel Stadium 29,945
Charleroi Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 25,000
Club Brugge Brugge Jan Breydel Stadium 29,945
K.R.C. Genk Genk Cristal Arena 24,900
K.A.A. Gent Ghent Ghelamco Arena 20,000
Kortrijk Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,500
Lierse Lier Herman Vanderpoortenstadion 14,538
Lokeren Lokeren Daknamstadion 10,000
Mechelen Mechelen Argosstadion Achter de Kazerne 13,123
Mouscron-Péruwelz Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,800
Oostende Ostend Albertpark 8,125
Standard Liège Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 30,000
Waasland-Beveren Beveren Freethiel Stadion 13,290
Westerlo Westerlo Het Kuipje 7,982
Zulte Waregem Waregem Regenboogstadion 8,500

Personnel and kits[edit]

Club Chairman Manager Manufacturer Sponsors
Anderlecht Belgium Roger Vanden Stock Albania Besnik Hasi adidas BNP Paribas Fortis
Cercle Brugge Belgium Paul Vanhaecke Netherlands Dennis van Wijk Masita ADMB
Charleroi Belgium Fabien Debecq Belgium Felice Mazzu Maps belgacom
Club Brugge Belgium Bart Verhaeghe Belgium Michel Preud'homme Nike proximus
Genk Belgium Herbert Houben Scotland Alex McLeish Nike beobank
Gent Belgium Michel Louwagie Belgium Hein Vanhaezebrouck Masita/Jartazi VDK
Kortrijk Belgium Joseph Allijns Belgium Yves Vanderhaeghe Jako AGO Jobs
Lierse Egypt Maged Samy France Olivier Guillou Jako Wadi Degla
Lokeren Belgium Roger Lambrecht Belgium Peter Maes Jartazi QTeam
Mechelen Belgium Johan Timmermans Serbia Aleksandar Janković Kappa Telenet
Mouscron-Péruwelz Belgium Edward Van Daele France Fernando Da Cruz Nike TradeCo
Oostende Belgium Marc Coucke Belgium Frederik Vanderbiest Joma Versluys
Standard Liège Belgium Roland Duchâtelet Belgium José Riga Joma BASE
Waasland-Beveren Belgium Jozef Van Remoortel Belgium Guido Brepoels Jako Remo Frit
Westerlo Belgium Herman Wijnants Netherlands Harm van Veldhoven Saller Soudal
Zulte Waregem Belgium Willy Naessens Belgium Francky Dury Patrick Record Bank

Managerial changes[edit]

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment
Gent Belgium Peter Balette Replaced End of 2013–14 season[6] Pre-season Belgium Hein Vanhaezebrouck 5 May 2014[6]
Kortrijk Belgium Hein Vanhaezebrouck Signed by Gent End of 2013–14 season[6] Belgium Yves Vanderhaeghe 28 May 2014[7]
Mechelen Belgium Franky Vercauteren Resigned End of 2013–14 season[8] Serbia Aleksandar Janković 8 May 2014[9]
Waasland-Beveren Belgium Bob Peeters Resigned End of 2013–14 season[10] Belgium Ronny Van Geneugden 28 May 2014[11]
Genk Belgium Emilio Ferrera Sacked 29 July 2014[12] 11th Scotland Alex McLeish 22 August 2014[13]
Lierse Netherlands Stanley Menzo Sacked 31 August 2014[14] 16th Slovenia Slaviša Stojanovič 5 September 2014[15]
Cercle Brugge Belgium Lorenzo Staelens Sacked 6 October 2014[16] 14th Iceland Arnar Viðarsson 6 October 2014[16]
Standard Liège Israel Guy Luzon Sacked 20 October 2014[17] 11th Serbia Ivan Vukomanović[nb 1] 5 November 2014[18]
Mouscron-Péruwelz France Rachid Chihab Sacked 29 December 2014[19] 12th France Fernando da Cruz 29 December 2014[19]
Waasland-Beveren Belgium Ronny Van Geneugden Sacked 30 December 2014[20] 14th Belgium Guido Brepoels 5 January 2015[21]
Westerlo Netherlands Dennis van Wijk Sacked 3 January 2015[22] 13th Netherlands Harm van Veldhoven 6 January 2015[23]
Lierse Slovenia Slaviša Stojanovič Resigned 28 January 2015[24] 16th Belgium Herman Helleputte 28 January 2015[24]
Lierse Belgium Herman Helleputte Resigned 30 January 2015[25] 16th France Olivier Guillou 30 January 2015[26]
Standard Liège Serbia Ivan Vukomanović Replaced 2 February 2015[27] 5th Belgium José Riga 2 February 2015[27]
Cercle Brugge Iceland Arnar Viðarsson Sacked 18 March 2015[28] Relegation Playoff, 1st Netherlands Dennis van Wijk 18 March 2015[28]

Regular season[edit]

League table[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Club Brugge 30 17 10 3 69 28 +41 61 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
2 Gent 30 16 9 5 52 29 +23 57
3 Anderlecht 30 16 9 5 51 30 +21 57
4 Standard Liège 30 16 5 9 49 39 +10 53
5 Kortrijk 30 16 3 11 54 35 +19 51
6 Charleroi 30 14 7 9 44 31 +13 49
7 Genk 30 13 10 7 38 28 +10 49 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs
8 Lokeren 30 10 12 8 38 32 +6 42
9 Mechelen 30 10 11 9 37 39 −2 41
10 Oostende 30 11 5 14 40 52 −12 38
11 Westerlo 30 8 9 13 42 63 −21 33
12 Zulte Waregem 30 8 7 15 41 54 −13 31
13 Mouscron-Péruwelz 30 7 5 18 32 51 −19 26
14 Waasland-Beveren 30 7 5 18 30 49 −19 26
15 Cercle Brugge 30 6 6 18 21 45 −24 24 Qualification for the Relegation play-offs
16 Lierse 30 5 7 18 30 63 −33 22
Source: Belgian Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) number of matches won; if teams are still tied a play-off is organised.

Results[edit]

Home \ Away AND CER CHA BRU GNK GNT KVK LIE LOK KVM MOU KVO STA WBE WES ZWA
Anderlecht 3–2 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–2 2–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 3–0 0–2 1–0 4–0 0–0
Cercle Brugge 0–2 1–0 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–4 1–2 1–0 2–3 2–1 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–2
Charleroi 3–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–2 6–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 2–2 2–3 2–1
Club Brugge 2–2 1–1 1–0 4–1 2–2 5–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 3–0 4–2 5–0 2–1
Genk 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 3–0 0–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 3–1 3–2
Gent 0–2 4–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 3–1 1–2 4–1 4–0 3–1
Kortrijk 2–3 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 2–3 1–0 2–3 3–0 3–0 0–2 2–3 2–1 6–0 3–1
Lierse 2–2 2–1 0–2 0–6 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–2 2–0 2–3 1–1 3–3 3–1
Lokeren 1–2 0–0 5–2 1–3 1–1 3–3 1–2 2–0 3–2 1–0 3–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–1
Mechelen 1–1 1–1 0–0 3–1 3–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–0 5–2 1–1
Mouscron-Péruwelz 4–2 4–0 0–2 1–4 1–2 1–3 0–3 2–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 5–2 1–0 1–0 0–1
Oostende 0–2 2–0 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–3 1–7 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–0 3–2 4–3 4–0 1–3
Standard Liège 2–0 1–0 3–0 1–3 1–0 0–1 0–2 2–2 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–5 3–2 2–2 1–2[a]
Waasland-Beveren 0–2 1–0 1–3 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–3
Westerlo 2–2 1–0 2–3 1–3 1–2 0–0 2–1 6–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 3–0 1–1 1–2 2–2
Zulte Waregem 0–2 1–2 1–3 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–3 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–4 1–1 1–4 1–3
Source: Belgian Pro League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ The match was abandoned after 89 minutes due to Standard Liège supporter violence, with Zulte Waregem at that time leading 1–2. Standard Liège was subsequently given a 0–5 loss and forced to play one match behind closed doors.[29] Standard however objected this ruling and after revision by the Belgian Sportsarbitrage, it was decided that the 1–2 result stood and that Standard was fined €5000. The one match behind closed doors penalty was dropped.[30]

Championship playoff[edit]

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 31 points, Gent 29, Anderlecht 29, Standard 27, Kortrijk 26 and Charleroi 25. Had any ties occurred at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted if it was added. However, as all six teams received the half point bonus, this did not make a difference this season.

Playoff table[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GNT CLU AND STA CHA KOR
1 Gent (C) 10 6 2 2 18 11 +7 49 Qualification for the Champions League group stage — 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–0
2 Club Brugge 10 5 1 4 16 16 0 47 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round 2–3 — 2–1 2–1 3–1 1–0
3 Anderlecht 10 5 2 3 18 13 +5 46 Qualification for the Europa League group stage[a] 2–1 3–1 — 1–1 1–0 5–1
4 Standard Liège 10 4 1 5 14 13 +1 40 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round 1–3 1–0 3–1 — 2–0 4–0
5 Charleroi 10 3 2 5 13 15 −2 36 Qualification for the Testmatches to Europa League[b] 2–1 2–3 0–1 1–0 — 5–2
6 Kortrijk 10 2 2 6 11 22 −11 34 0–1 2–0 2–2 3–1 1–1 —
Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) points after deduction of (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) number of wins; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) number of away goals scored; 7) number of away wins.[31]
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Since winners of the 2014–15 Belgian Cup, Club Brugge, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League group stage) was passed to the third-placed team and the other spots were adjusted accordingly.
  2. ^ The team finishing in fifth place, Charleroi, will play the testmatches against the winner of the Belgian Europa League playoff final, for a spot in the Europa League second qualifying round.

Europa League playoff[edit]

Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 were placed in Group B.

Group A[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KVM GNK ZWA W-B
1 Mechelen (A) 6 5 0 1 14 3 +11 15 Qualification for the Playoff Final — 4–0 3–0 4–1
2 Genk 6 5 0 1 14 7 +7 15 1–0 — 1–0 7–1
3 Zulte Waregem 6 1 1 4 6 10 −4 4 0–1 2–3 — 2–2
4 Waasland-Beveren 6 0 1 5 5 19 −14 1 1–2 0–2 0–2 —
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference
(A) Advance to the Final

Group B[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LOK RMP OOS WES
1 Lokeren (A) 6 4 1 1 19 9 +10 13 Qualification for the Playoff Final — 2–1 6–1 1–1
2 Mouscron-Péruwelz 6 3 1 2 9 8 +1 10 1–5 — 2–0 1–1
3 Oostende 6 2 0 4 6 12 −6 6 1–2 0–1 — 2–0
4 Westerlo 6 1 2 3 7 12 −5 5 4–3 0–3 1–2 —
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference
(A) Advance to the Final

Europa League playoff final[edit]

The winners of both playoff groups, Mechelen and Lokeren, compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship playoff, called Testmatch. The winners of this Testmatch will be granted entry to the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Lokeren2–2Mechelen
Ngolok 34', 56' Report Veselinović 11'
Naessens 49'
Attendance: 5,763
Mechelen2–1Lokeren
Hanni 6'
Kosanović 56'		 Report Marić 90+2' (pen.)
Attendance: 6,340

Mechelen won 4–3 on aggregate.

Testmatches Europa League[edit]

The Europa League playoff final was played over two legs between the Europa league playoff final winners, Mechelen, and the fifth-placed finisher of the championship playoff, Charleroi. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Mechelen2–1Charleroi
Cissé 42'
Kosanović 86'		 Report Geraerts 55'
Charleroi2–0Mechelen
Marinos 69'
Ndongala 89'

Charleroi wins 3–2 on aggregate

Relegation playoff[edit]

The teams that finished in the last two positions will face each other in the relegation playoff. Lierse was sure of ending up in the relegation playoff after losing away to Gent on 7 March 2015, while Cercle Brugge qualified one week later after losing 2–3 at home to Mechelen.

The winner of this playoff will play the second division playoff with three Belgian Second Division teams, with only the winner of that playoff playing at the highest level the next season. Lierse failed to win the Belgian Second Division playoff resulting in their relegation, in addition to Cercle Brugge.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Lierse (R) 4 3 0 1 8 4 +4 9 Qualification for the Belgian Second Division final round
2 Cercle Brugge (R) 4 1 0 3 4 8 −4 6 Relegation to 2015–16 Belgian Second Division
Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

The matches in the table below were played from left to right:

Home \ Away LIE CER LIE CER LIE CER
Lierse 0–1 3–1
Cercle Brugge 2–3 0–2 –[a]
Source: soccerway.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ^ Match not played as Cercle Brugge could no longer overtake Lierse in the standings. In case of a tie, Lierse would have still ranked above Cercle Brugge due to the number of matches won.

Season statistics[edit]

Source: Sport.be (in Dutch)

Up to and including matches played on 24 May 2015.

Top scorers[edit]

Position Player Club Goals
1 Serbia Aleksandar Mitrović Anderlecht 20
2 Croatia Ivan Santini Kortrijk 15
3 Belgium Renaud Emond Waasland-Beveren 14
Belgium Geoffrey Mujangi Bia Standard Liège
5 Belgium Laurent Depoitre Gent 13
Colombia José Izquierdo Club Brugge
Serbia Dalibor Veselinović Mechelen
8 France Teddy Chevalier Kortrijk 12
Mali Abdoulay Diaby Mouscron-Péruwelz
Switzerland Mijat Marić Lokeren

Hat-tricks[edit]

Key
4 Player scored four goals
* The home team
Player For Against Result Date
Chile Nicolás Castillo Club Brugge* Westerlo 5–0 9 November 2014
Nigeria Moses Simon Gent Lokeren* 3–3 1 February 2015
Croatia Ivan Santini4 Kortrijk* Westerlo 6–0 21 February 2015
Costa Rica John Jairo Ruiz Oostende Zulte Waregem* 1–4 15 March 2015
Belgium Zinho Gano Mouscron-Péruwelz Westerlo* 0–3 4 April 2015

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Vukomanović had initially been appointed as caretaker manager following the sacking of Guy Luzon on 20 October 2014, but was appointed head coach on 5 November 2014 until the end of the season, due to good results.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Langste winning streak". Sport.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Langste non-losing streak". Sport.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Langste non-winning streak". Sport.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Langste losing streak". Sport.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Gent end 115-year wait for Belgian title". uefa.com. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  6. ^ a b c "Vanhaezebrouck:"Back to the top with Gent" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-05-05.
  7. ^ "Kortrijk stelt assistent Vanderhaeghe voor als nieuwe trainer" [Kortrijk presents assistant Vanderhaeghe as new head coach] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-06-03.
  8. ^ "KV Mechelen and Vercauteren say goodbye" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-05-05.
  9. ^ "KV Mechelen teams up with Aleksandar Janković" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-05-08.
  10. ^ "Peeters terminates contract with Waasland-Beveren" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-05-23.
  11. ^ "Ronny Van Geneugden new trainer of Waasland-Beveren" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-05-28.
  12. ^ "Racing Genk sacks coach Ferrera after one matchday" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-07-29. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014.
  13. ^ "Scotsman Alex McLeish is the new Genk trainer" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-08-22. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014.
  14. ^ "Lierse kicks Menzo to the curb" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-08-31. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014.
  15. ^ "New Lierse-coach:"Belgium is attractive due to the Red Devils"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-09-05. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Cercle Brugge ends coöperation with Staelens" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-10-06. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  17. ^ "Luzon no longer head coach of Standard" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-10-20. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014.
  18. ^ "Standard continues with coach Vukomanović" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-11-05. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014.
  19. ^ a b "Da Cruz succeeds Chihab at Mouscron-Péruwelz" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-12-29. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014.
  20. ^ "Waasland-Beveren says goodbye to Ronny Van Geneugden" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-12-30. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014.
  21. ^ "Brepoels:"show that success with STVV was not a coincidence" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2015-01-05. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015.
  22. ^ "Westerlo end cooperation with Van Wijk" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2015-01-03. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015.
  23. ^ "Van Veldhoven is the new coach at Westerlo" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2015-01-06. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015.
  24. ^ a b "Lierse-coach Stojanovič resigns" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2015-01-28. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015.
  25. ^ "Helleputte resigns as Lierse-coach after only two days" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2015-01-30. Archived from the original on January 30, 2015.
  26. ^ "Helleputte has resigned for health reasons" (in Dutch). De Morgen. 2015-01-30.
  27. ^ a b "Riga returns as head coach at Standard" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2015-02-02. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015.
  28. ^ a b "Van Wijk takes over control at Cercle Brugge: "I'm confident"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-10-06. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015.
  29. ^ "Standard loses 0–5 and will play one match without fans" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-10-28. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014.
  30. ^ "Belgian Sportsarbitrage: "The match Standard-Zulte Waregem ends at 1–2"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2014-12-10. Archived from the original on December 10, 2014.
  31. ^ "Algemene bepalingen" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  32. ^ "KV Mechelen speelt dan toch niet "thuis" in Beveren, maar in Leuven". Sporza.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 May 2015.[permanent dead link]
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